Hide the members of a shared folder

[Dreue C.]

Hi,
My company uses Dropbox (free and company versions) to share files with external people of the company. We would like to know if it's possible to hide the name and the email address of the members of the folder to the other members. And if it's not possible yet, I think it would be a good idea to improve Dropbox, don't you think?

[Jay]

This idea has been closed as it has reached the end of the Share an Idea process.

[Nrop S.]

Mark Mc

Are these Dropbox's options for sharing files?

1 - Upload 1 copy of shared files to a single shared folder, make other users members of the folder with permission to view &/ edit to facilitate collaboration, and display the emails of all members to each other, with no option to hide members' emails from each other, or

2 - Where the owner of the file wants to share with multiple users without displaying their emails to each other, create unique shared folders for each user, so each folder has only 2 members, the uploader and the shared viewer, so if there are 10 users to share the file with, the uploader has to create 10 folders and upload the file 10 times, just to hide the viewers' emails form each other.

If so, then Eric requested the the feature to hide non-owner members' emails from each other be added to option 1, and your answer that a shared link does what he's after is false.

If I missed something, please explain the answer to this 19 month old topic: How, in a single shared folder, do you hide non-owner members' emails from each other?

[Richard P.]

Nrop, I refer you to my first answer in this thread - you can't.  All collaborators can see who they are collaborating with.

[Nrop S.]

Richard P. - Thanks. I am new to Dropbox, and was quite shocked to see that other members of a shared folder could see my email without my having given permission for my email to be published, so I googled and found this forum topic.

I don't know the difference between your various superusers, but it is very misleading to read your note saying it cannot be done and then superuser Mark Mc saying it can. If there is way to have Mark Mc amend his response to Eric to reflect your response that it cannot be done, that would eliminate the confusion, and clarify that that Dropbox has no intention of adding this feature to shared folders.

[Richard P.]

Nrop, after reviewing Marks posts, I think I see your confusion, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

A "shared folder" and a "shared link" are two entirely separate things - this thread is about "shared folders" not hiding a members details.

Mark suggests that a "shared link" can achieve what people are after - and it does, they are anonymous to members and can be protected by a password so they are not public, but the down side is that they are not two way.

Mark is suggesting a different approach.

[Nrop S.]

Richard P. Thanks again, this looks useful.

I am going to do the following test: using my Nrop Sirrom Dropbox account, I will upload a file to a new folder. I will then share a link to that file with my other email (that has no Dropbox account) and see if that works, meaning that from my other non-Dropbox email, I am able to view & download the file. I'll let you know if it works.

If it works, it will be practical for those that only want to share a limited number of file links (not shared folders) with others on a confidential basis.

[Richard P.]

Be aware that you need to be 100% logged out of the Dropbox website when you view that link - if you remain signed in as the account that sent the link (the link owner) then you will NOT see what normal recipients see - this has been the source of several panicky threads on here, because it allows you to view your entire Dropbox if you are logged in.

[Nrop S.]

Double thanks!

[Danny W.5]

Hi superuser..

as you commented..

A "shared folder" and a "shared link" are two entirely separate things - this thread is about "shared folders" not hiding a members details..

can we implement "share link to a folder".. same concept as shared link (which is only to file), but with access to all link to files under that folder..

[Richard P.]

You can already share a link to a folder, which works as you want. Which is why I mention it above.

[cjm1982]

Marc Mc and Richard P, you are being as blind and dismissive as Dropbox.  I don't want to share a link!  I need to share a large number of product files to my clients.  If I share a link, they need to 1) remember and save the link somewhere, which is extra hassle on their part, and 2) re-check the link often to check for updates, which is even more hassle on their part.

Sharing the folder to their email means that they don't need to save a link somewhere, and they are notified when I make updates to the shared folder, which is ideal.

However, I don't want all of my clients to see each others names and emails - its ridiculous that this isn't implemented in the paid version and extremely arrogant to think that you or Dropbox know how we should be using it.